It’s amazing that 40 years after initially meeting on Full House — and some even continuing to appear on the 2025 TV schedule — the cast members remain so close. This is especially true given the actors’ wide age range and differing comedic sensibilities. However, Jodie Sweetin and Andrea Barber got real about a “weird question” they get from fans about just how close they were to their co-stars, and it sounds like people are confusing the Tanners with The Brady Bunch.
Full House Vets Reveal A Question They Get About John Stamos
John Stamos may have played heartthrob Jesse Katsopolis on Full House (streaming with a Max subscription) and the spinoff Fuller House (streaming with a Netflix subscription), but to the young ladies on the show, he was simply Uncle Jesse. That familial dynamic, however, hasn’t kept minds from wondering, and Andrea Barber (aka Kimmy Gibler) addressed that on the How Rude, Tannerinos! podcast, saying:
I think it’s like when people ask us in media interviews, they’re like, did you ever have a crush on John Stamos? No, that is a gross question. They’re like our older brothers, and we do not think of them that way.
It’s not even the family thing that is the most disturbing about this question, but the fact that Jodie Sweetin was 5 years old when Full House started (13 by the finale). Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, meanwhile, were 6 months old — 8 years old when it ended.
Even Candace Cameron Bure and Andrea Barber, who were slightly older at 11, were probably a little young to be developing a crush on someone more than 10 years older than them (at least in the earlier seasons). Jodie Sweetin jumped in, adding to what her co-host said:
Not even older brothers. They’re like uncles.
Technically Jesse wasn’t an uncle to Kimmy, but the dynamic was still there, and Andrea Barber shut down any speculation to the contrary, saying:
There’s nothing remotely attractive about this. They’re just our buddies. And yeah, this is kind of a weird question.
The thing is, not all TV casts have been known to keep things 100% platonic. Yeah, I’m talking about you, Brady kids.
Barry Williams Confirmed All The Brady Bunch Kids “Hooked Up”
They may have played step-siblings on The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974, but those fraternal relationships didn’t stay chaste off the screen. In celebrating the sitcom’s 55th anniversary last year, Barry Williams told US Weekly:
We all hooked up with each other at some point. Not necessarily while we were filming. I dated Maureen [McCormick], and Chris [Knight] dated Eve [Plum] and Michael [Lookinland] and Susan [Olsen] had a little mock wedding at one point. So, yes, we all hooked up.
Sounds like there was a lot going on behind the scenes of The Brady Bunch and in the years that followed. It’s funny that the love connections happened between the actors who played the two oldest stepsiblings (Greg and Marsha), the middle children (Peter and Jan) and the youngest two (annoying TV siblings Bobby and Cindy).
Much to Jodie Sweetin and Andrea Barber’s chagrin, I’m sure, that’s not where the romantic interests stopped. Despite these Brady Bunch rumors driving Susan Olsen nuts, Barry Williams said he did have a crush — if not an affair — with his TV mom Florence Henderson. In the actor’s words:
I had a teenage crush on her, for sure, And she’s got a very lively personality and great sense of humor, but I knew that I wanted to have music in my career [in] acting, and so I talked to her a lot about that. I had found this singer coming into the Copacabana near Beverly Hills. I can’t think of exactly where it was, but I invited her to go together as a date, and she said, ‘OK,’ so I was thrilled. And now for me, it was a date.
Was there a kiss at the end of that date?
I did go in for a little kiss and and, and she was nice enough to return it. So it was a highlight. Nice little peck, yes.
At least in the case of The Brady Bunch, all of the hookups seemed to be age appropriate (I’m giving Florence Henderson the benefit of the doubt that the Barry Williams affair was one-sided), so it somehow feels less skeezy than any Full House crushes might have. If you want to see what kind of chemistry the Brady blended family had going on, you can watch old episodes with your Paramount+ subscription.
